


water cooler conversations

by mypage



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Co-workers, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Poly, Romance, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mypage/pseuds/mypage
Summary: “I think Jaemin from IT and Jeno from Finance are dating.” Renjun blurts out, midway through biting into his BLT Subway sandwich.Donghyuck, his friend and the only person from the Marketing team that he trusts, spares the accused a glance. “You’re crazy.” He says, turning back to his burrito.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 39
Kudos: 580





	water cooler conversations

**Author's Note:**

> Or: Renjun reporting live from someone else's relationship and that meme going "scoot over, i'm trying to join your relationship"

“I think Jaemin from IT and Jeno from Finance are dating.” Renjun blurts out, midway through biting into his BLT Subway sandwich. The realization dawning upon him is evident from the way his eyes gloss over, staring at the said people who are sitting together on the table across him.

Donghyuck, his friend and the only person from the Marketing team that he trusts, spares the accused a glance. “You’re crazy.” He says, turning back to his burrito.

“Why?” Renjun looks at Donghyuck, eyebrow raised at Donghyuck’s confidence. “Don’t you think it’s possible?”

Donghyuck sips from his cider. “No,” he disagrees, “they’ve been friends for years. They’ve always been close.”

“Hm,” Renjun hums, turning his focus back to Jeno and Jaemin who are sitting too close for comfort. “Maybe.”

Donghyuck laughs at him, shaking his head. “You should start dating.”

Renjun frowns at Donghyuck, as if he has just offended his ancestors. “Now, _you’re_ crazy.”

“Whatever. Wanna bet they’re not dating?” Donghyuck suggests, and the offer of a bet is always so enticing to Renjun.

Eyes glistening with interest, Renjun grins around his sandwich. “Bet.”

Renjun isn’t particularly close with Jeno or Jaemin. The only conversations he has with them are shared over the water cooler or the photocopying machine. He remembers having a conversation with the both of them when he spotted them together at the nearby coffee shop. Everything so far has been small talk.

But those small conversations are enough for Renjun to conclude one thing—they’re dating each other.

Maybe, he’s just really bored like what Donghyuck has been telling him—but now that Donghyuck has made a bet on whether Jaemin and Jeno are dating, he’s on a mission to prove that his gut feeling is never wrong.

He has several reasons for his claims.

First, he has walked in on what he thinks is a ruined make out session. It’s very rare that Renjun used the stairs, usually opting for the elevator but it was rush hour and he had to get his boss his cup of coffee _or else_ all hell would break loose. That’s why Renjun skipped the elevators and headed straight for the stairwell, using all his strength to get him to the office.

On his ascent to the fifth floor, coffee cups held carefully in his hands, he heard the distinct noise of kissing sounds—lips smacking against lips in some sort of a hushed conversation. He paused in his tracks, shocked by what he might walk in on but he had coffee needed to be delivered. He couldn’t let some secret office romance ruin his career.

So, braving it and pretending as if he didn’t hear anything, Renjun continued his way to the next landing and surprised himself with who he encountered.

Jeno and Jaemin, flushed to the neck up and standing next to each other as if in casual conversation.

Renjun’s eyes were wide as they stared at him. Jeno was about to open his mouth to say something, but Renjun was already bowing his head at them in greeting and in farewell as he trekked the rest of the way up to the next floor.

That’s how he started thinking they were dating.

Second, Renjun always sees them together.

It’s true that they’re close, they’ve been friends for years according to everyone who knows them, but Renjun has seen them together all the time. That must account for something, right?

He remembers a chance encounter at the mall, where he had been buying new bedsheets and pillows. Coincidentally, there’s Jeno and Jaemin in another aisle buying a _couch._ Together.

That must mean something, right? He didn’t approach them then though, and only hid behind his new pillows and rushed to the cashier to pay. Back then, he had thought it would be embarrassing for him and for them.

Third, they’re _always_ looking at him.

He thinks it’s because he caught them at the stairwell and that he has figured out their secret office romance. What else can it be, right? It can only be that.

Renjun has always avoided them, but now that this whole thing is in action—it’s time Renjun befriends them.

He needs to investigate, after all.

As with most office conversations, this one starts at the water cooler.

It appears as if the universe is coming in sync with his plans. Although they’re from different departments and different offices, there’s only so many water cooler stations in their floor. It’s an advantage that the Marketing and Finance departments are on the same floor too because here is Jeno, in all his glory, refilling his one-liter bottle of water.

When his eyes catch sight of Jeno passing by, Renjun hurriedly finishes his own bottle of water in one go and excuses himself for a refill. Donghyuck, on the cubicle next to him, only looks at him weirdly before he goes back to his computer.

_Aha. Donghyuck didn’t even see Jeno coming._

One for Renjun, and none for Donghyuck.

Renjun approaches the water cooler, and subsequently, Jeno. He doesn’t notice Renjun approaching, so shifting his weight on his heels and toes, Renjun speaks up from behind Jeno. “Nice weather we’re having, huh?”

Jeno, who’s drinking out of his water bottle, jumps a little in his surprise. “Huh?” Jeno turns to him, obviously confused at the sudden conversation. When their eyes meet, is looking at him like _that._ Renjun doesn’t really know how to explain it, but there’s something like surprise and fascination—perhaps even a little apprehension.

Jeno screws his water bottle shut and steps away, making way for Renjun to use the water cooler. “It’s raining.”

As Jeno says that, thunder roars and lightning crackles, visible from the large windows in the office. It paints a white streak across the darkening skies, Jeno hums low in his throat.

“Yeah—” Renjun looks at him as he refills his own bottle. He traces where Jeno’s line of sight is and looks out the window too. “You don’t like the rain?”

Jeno is distracted for a second, then shakes his head briefly. “Not really.”

Another round of thunder rumbles and Renjun doesn’t miss the way Jeno locks his jaw. “Ah,” Renjun lets out, “I see.”

Something in Jeno must have switched, because when he turns to Renjun again, he’s no longer distracted. He smiles at Renjun, bows his head a little as he starts walking away backwards. “Have a great day, Renjun.” He waves.

Renjun doesn’t even notice his water bottle has overflown. “You too, Jeno.”

The morning traffic rush is hellish. Add the rain showers on top of that and Renjun knows he’s about to go into battle.

Renjun takes the bus to work on most days, and like most days, Renjun leaves early for work. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but it just seems like he has forgotten something very important today.

His umbrella.

Rain has been visiting Seoul city in the past days, it’s usually random drizzles but last night’s rain has been close to a thunderstorm. So the moment he got home, Renjun has opened up his umbrella to let it dry.

His only mistake—he has forgotten to fold it back into his bag once it has dried, so now here he is, stranded under the bus stop as he waits for the rain to stop. One thing is for sure, he is going to be late.

The building is a few minutes of walk from the bus stop—and sure, he can brave the rain and arrive to work late but he just can’t picture himself appearing like a wet dog in front of his colleagues.

He can deal with one day of tardiness but he can’t deal with such _embarrassment._ He’s a professional, for crying out loud!

As he stares at the droplets of rain pouring down from the shed, he hears his name called somewhere to his right.

“Renjun!”

Renjun whips his head around, the voice oddly familiar but he can’t quite place who it is.

Then he sees Jaemin, bounding to him in his suit and tie, with an umbrella big enough for two.

_He takes note of this._

“Jaemin?” He greets, bowing his head as Jaemin approaches him under the shed. Jaemin closes his umbrella and stands next to him, beaming.

“What’re you doing standing here? You’re gonna be late.” Jaemin teases. He doesn’t remember Jaemin being this friendly with him in the past, but he doesn’t despise it. This is just another form of a water cooler conversation, he thinks.

“I forgot my umbrella.” He gestures to his empty hands. “Aren’t you going to work?”

Jaemin blinks at his hands, then waves his umbrella around, accidentally splashing some droplets on rain on both of their suits. Jaemin apologizes promptly with a chuckle. “Yeah! I am, that’s why I came over. Do you wanna share my umbrella? It’ll be bad if you get caught in the acid rain. It can cause your hair to fall off, you know?”

That’s the first time Renjun has heard that the rain can cause your hair to fall off, but his ears pick up the more important statement here. Renjun gets a flashback of his conversation with Jeno a day ago, and a metaphorical lightbulb sparks to life above his head. “You don’t like the rain?”

Jaemin shakes his head. “Nope, I get cold easy. And the rain is bad these days, back then, it would’ve fine. But now, pollution and all, you know?”

_Makes sense. It’s all making sense now._

“So, you wanna share my umbrella?” Jaemin asks again, opening his umbrella and who is Renjun to say no?

“Yes—please, thank you!”

The past couple of days have been uneventful. He has a couple of presentations and reports but it’s been pretty boring to say the least. He hasn’t had a conversation with Jeno nor Jaemin and Donghyuck doesn’t seem to be as interested as he is over their relationship. It’s getting boring.

Friday morning, just ten minutes after has punched in, something eventful happens.

“What the hell?”

His desktop screen flashes blue, and then shuts down. It’s a good thing he hasn’t started working on the report yet but he’s also worried sick that all of his files might have been corrupted.

God, so much for working for a multi-million company.

“What’s up?” Donghyuck peeks over from his cubicle, wheeling his chair next to him.

“My computer died.” He states, looks at Donghyuck hopelessly. “What do I do?”

Donghyuck blinks and then clicks his tongue. “You better have this checked with the IT team. If you break it, they might deduct this from your salary so you better report it. You still owe me money.”

Renjun groans. What a good way to start his morning.

“Can you send them a message for me?” Renjun asks, almost pleading. Donghyuck looks at him from a few seconds, then deadpans.

Donghyuck rolls his chair back to his side of the cubicle, tapping something on his keyboard before he speaks. “Fine. I’ve sent them a message but you still have to go up to report it and have it fixed.”

Renjun frowns, chews on the inside of his cheek and sighs. “Fine.”

The IT department is on the floor above them, so Renjun takes the stairs and gathers all of his courage to report the broken computer. Technically, it isn’t his fault—so he has nothing to worry about, right? The computer has always been working fine, although sometimes it can be slow when he opens too many tabs of emails and documents, it works perfectly well.

He really can’t find any reason as to why it blue screened in front of his face even if he tried.

The door to the IT office looks daunting. _There’s no reason to be scared._ He tells himself, inhaling then exhaling as he pushes past the door.

“Hi,” he greets, peeking his head in and looking around. The office isn’t as big as theirs, but there’s a lot of computers and things that Renjun doesn’t have a name for.

His eyes land on Jaemin, the only person in the room and he perks up immediately. He doesn’t know when seeing Jaemin has started bringing him some sense of comfort instead of the usual curiosity and intrigue.

“Jaemin!” He greets, letting himself in the office as Jaemin rises from his seat and meets him with a similar smile. “Oh god, thank goodness it’s you. Did you receive the message from someone from Marketing?”

“Hm? Oh, let me check.” He peers into his computer as Renjun steps closer to him. He takes a minute to look at the office. There’s a couple more computers around Jaemin, with jackets and cardigans strewn over the office chairs. There are stacks of papers littered everywhere too and he concludes that each department are indeed run differently.

But one thing catches his eye the most as he nears Jaemin’s desk. _The picture frame._

His eyes immediately focus on the picture, and he makes out a photo of Jaemin _and_ Jeno with their arms around each other. The picture doesn’t look too old, but they’re in graduation gowns, which tells a story more than words can do.

_Finally, something interesting to tell Donghyuck about._

“Ah,” Jaemin sighs, which pulls Renjun away from the photograph to look at him, “your computer broke down?” He asks.

Renjun nods sheepishly. “Yeah. It went blue screen after I started it up. I literally don’t know what happened to it. It’s perfectly fine yesterday? I don’t know why it’s like that suddenly.” He explains as best he can, but he doesn’t really know one thing about computers.

Jaemin hums thoughtfully. “Okay. I’ll go down to the Marketing office and have a look at it.”

Renjun beams. He knows Jaemin is just doing his job, but he’s grateful nonetheless. “Thank you!”

As expected, Donghyuck doesn’t care when Renjun tells him about the photograph on Jaemin’s desk. Despite the evidence (read: the rain hating and the photograph) that he has gathered recently, Donghyuck still doesn’t believe that Jeno and Jaemin are dating. But he _will_ make Donghyuck believe. Something in his guts tell him they are and he will be proven right.

Something shifts in the universe on a faithful Sunday evening.

Renjun spends most of his weekends alone. His family is in China, his friends have jobs that entail them to work on the weekends and some are just plainly busy. He’s fine with that though, he likes being alone—takes comfort in the fact that no matter what decision he makes regarding how to spend his day, no one else but him will be affected.

Renjun enjoys autonomy. But on some days, he wonders how it’ll be like to share weekend meals with someone else.

These thoughts of loneliness are brushed away though when Renjun finds himself in his favorite hotpot restaurant again.

Again, because it’s the third time this month he’s spending the weekend eating here. It’s his routine, a habit that he can’t get rid of. Plus, hotpot brings him comfort like no other. It’s to the point that the people at this branch already knows who he is by _name._

He enters the restaurant like he will on any normal day, the bell above the door chimes as he walks inside but another sound, an anomaly, catches his attention.

“Is that Renjun? Oh, it’s Renjun! Renjun, hi!”

The voice is awfully familiar this time and it does not take long for Renjun to find who’s calling for him.

Just to his left, two tables away from his usual spot, are Jeno _and_ Jaemin. Jaemin has his hand up, waving at him and Jeno has turned around in his seat to smile at him.

As quickly as he registers who’s calling for him, Renjun can’t help but smile at himself as he comes to a conclusion. _Jeno and Jaemin are most definitely dating._

Is there any other reason for them to be together on a weekend?

With newfound confidence, Renjun stalks up to them, beaming. “Hi!” He says waving at them as he nears. “Nice running into you guys here?”

Jaemin is practically beaming, cheeks rising as he nods. “Yeah! Nice running into you here.”

“Do you eat here often?” Jeno asks and Renjun turns to him. Jeno looks different to the last time Renjun has had a conversation with him. He seems brighter, less gloomy and without the worried expression marring his features.

It has been sunny recently, after all.

“Yup,” Renjun says, gesturing to the table next to them, “this spot here is actually my usual place.”

As if to prove his point, one of the staff passes by them and greets him by name. Renjun bows his head bashfully in greeting as the staff leaves as soon as they came. Rubbing his nape, Renjun turns back to his co-workers.

“Woah, Renjun is so popular.” Jaemin teases, his chin propped on his hand. “Why don’t you come sit with us for dinner? It’s our first time eating in this restaurant and we’ll definitely appreciate your expert recommendation.”

Renjun is surprised at the offer. While he does appreciate his time alone, and needs it to recuperate, this will also be a chance for him to investigate on Jeno and Jaemin further right?

Shrugging his shoulders, Renjun responds. “Well—if Jeno is fine with it?”

Jeno speaks up almost immediately. “Of course! Yes! Very fine.”

Renjun ends up sitting next to Jeno, Jaemin across them. The conversation flows easy, and with the food and Renjun’s impeccable taste—everything goes absolutely fine.

He surprises himself with how easily he clicks with them. It’s the longest conversation he’s ever had with them, and despite being coworkers for a little bit over a year now—it’s the first time he’s really engaged in something like this with them.

Then again, they work under different departments. It’s hard to find a chance to talk with people from other departments.

He learns that Jeno entered the company first, then referred Jaemin who has been taking a break after university graduation when openings for the IT department has been posted. He learns that Jaemin has a fondness for coriander which he truly does not understand, and he learns that Jeno is fond of cats despite being allergic.

He tells them bits and pieces of himself too, tells him that he got into the company through a LinkedIn post and didn’t hear back until almost a month later. He’s almost forgotten he applied until the call came asking him to come in for an interview. Now that he thinks about it, it had been slightly ridiculous, but he can’t complain now.

They exchange fun facts about each other, conversations run deeper than small talks but Renjun still doesn’t have the answer that he wants.

He might as well just ask now, right? Who knows when will the next opportunity like this come?

Clearing his throat, Renjun scoots his chair closer to the table, which catches Jeno’s and Jaemin’s attentions.

“I hope you guys don’t mind me asking this but—” he lets his words linger, unsure how to place his question now that their eyes are on him.

“Hm?” Jeno prompts him, “what is it?”

Renjun throws Jeno a side glance, then shifts his eyes to Jaemin. He makes a vague gesture in the air between them, then asks. “Are you guys dating?”

Jaemin, who’s in the middle of drinking some water chokes on it and he slams the cup down on the table so hard that the water splashes around. Jeno makes a noise of surprise, coughing on his spoonful of hotpot as he reaches over for his own cup of water to wash it down.

“Sorry?” Renjun panics, looking around them as he hands Jaemin the tissue holder to wipe down the splashes of water on the surface of the table. His other hand comes over to rub Jeno’s back soothingly.

God, he wants the ground to open up and eat him whole. That question sounded better in his head and he definitely did not think about this through. He must have put them in an awkward situation now. What if they’re really _not_ dating? Oh god, did he just make their entire friendship awkward now?

“It’s fine,” Jeno manages to let out, inhaling then exhaling loudly. When Renjun turns to look at him his eyes are wide as he looks at Jaemin across them. Renjun follows his line of sight and Jaemin is sighing to himself, wiping the table down.

When Jaemin raises his eyes, Renjun feels that shoot through him right away. “What makes you say that, Renjun?”

“Uhm,” Renjun squeaks out, “just—you guys are really close? I’m just really observant and curious, and nosy—oh god. Sorry.”

Jeno chuckles from next to him, and somehow that relieves Renjun slightly. “Ah, shit. I guess we aren’t that good at hiding it, huh, Jaemin?”

Renjun’s ears perk up at that, his back straightening as his confidence begins to rise. Is he about to be proven right? Is he about to win the bet with Donghyuck? Renjun leans forward, very interested in what Jaemin has to say now.

Jaemin chews on his bottom lip. “Should we tell him?”

Jeno shrugs. “He’s asking.”

Jaemin blows a raspberry and runs his hand through his hair. He’s smiling though, so that means it’s good, right? “Jeno and I have been dating since university. But it’s taboo to date in the company that’s why we’ve been dating secretly?”

“We really thought we’d been doing our best to hide it,” Jeno interjects, rubbing his nape bashfully, “but I guess you caught on?”

It all makes sense now, their closeness and the picture frame on Jaemin’s desk. It also makes sense why they would hide it, dating at work can be burdensome. Plus, there’s also that taboo which Renjun truthfully just doesn’t understand.

Renjun suddenly realizes the implications of his question. “Oh!” Renjun waves his hands around them. “Don’t worry! I won’t tell anyone. Plus, I don’t think anyone else but me noticed? I mean—I asked my friend about it and he was so sure you guys were just friends. I swear not to tell anyone!” He even crosses his heart. “Promise!”

Jaemin and Jeno both let out sighs of relief, leaning their head back on the backrest of their chair. “Ah,” Jaemin exhales, “thank you. I’m really sorry that you’re in on this secret now. I hope you don’t feel burdened?”

“We’d really appreciate if you keep our secret, Renjun.” Jeno says, and his voice is so solemn and serious that Renjun doesn’t think he can even think of reneging on the promise he has just made. “But we understand… if you’ll—”

“No!” Renjun denies, full of conviction. His eyes are fiery and Jaemin and Jeno are laughing slightly. He doesn’t care. He wants them to know that he’s going to keep their secret. Plus, it is slightly his fault that he’s here in this situation know. He’s the one that asked, after all.

“I promised. And I’m going to keep my promise. You guys are so cute together! I’ll protect your relationship!”

Now, that really has Jaemin and Jeno laughing, doubling over as they did so. Renjun finds himself laughing with them too, shaking his head at how ridiculous the situation is now.

When the laughter dies down, Jaemin asks a question that has Renjun blushing all over.

“So, if you say you’re the only one that noticed, does that mean you’re interested in us, Renjunnie?”

Renjun doesn’t understand the question at first, but when Jeno leans sideway to him with a side smile, a conclusion comes to mind that he doesn’t really want to dwell over especially now.

Renjun huffs incredulously. “I’m just really nosy!”

After learning the truth from Jeno and Jaemin themselves, Renjun calls off the bet with Donghyuck. Donghyuck shrugs him off, having forgotten what the bet has been about anyway. Renjun doesn’t remind him even when he asks.

The thing with Renjun and secrets is that he can keep them to his grave, but he can’t help himself from throwing the people he shared the secret with a knowing glance, little nudges of _‘I know what you know’._

It’s definitely not different from Jeno and Jaemin.

They still meet each other over the water cooler and the photocopy machine. They still share small talk over that casual little breaks in the middle of their busy days but Renjun definitely feels as if they’re more than his work acquaintances now. Maybe they’re friends, like the way he's friends with Donghyuck.

Their lunch times still coincide, and sometimes, Renjun would ask them to eat with them together at the cafeteria. Donghyuck is surprised but welcomes them anyway when he finds them entertaining enough. And really, just like that, Renjun has made two new friends at work.

Knowing Jeno and Jaemin’s relationship has made his work life a little bit more exciting. Each time he sees them together, he throws them that knowing glance and sometimes, even manages to wedge himself in conversation with them.

Jeno and Jaemin are more than welcoming to this too, each time they’d see Renjun in the hallways or in the shared spaces in the office, they’d engage him in a conversation. More than once, Renjun finds himself looking forward to work because he can see and talk with Jeno and Jaemin. More than once, Renjun finds himself thinking over which tie will match his suit for work, finds himself looking forward to the compliment Jaemin will throw his way or the question Jeno will ask if the tie is new.

Although Jeno and Jaemin must hide their relationship within the company, Renjun can’t help but hope that, as a friend, Renjun’s presence can help them feel more at ease.

Renjun gets the confirmation that Jeno and Jaemin find ease with him one late night after work. He’s finishing a report that’s taking more time and effort than he anticipated. With a job like his, he’s almost always at the office working overtime so that he can finish tasks for tomorrow’s early work.

It’s not a new occurrence, but what’s new is that, when Renjun exits the elevator into the lobby—there’s Jaemin sitting by himself on one of the couches. He’s seemingly asleep, head leaning back against the rest of the couch and his tie askew. The marks of a long work day are evident on his features, and Renjun almost debates going up to him to check up on him.

But his feet have taken him to where Jaemin is lying peacefully on the couch. He doesn’t really mean to stare, but he’s drawn to the way his long eyelashes fans against his cheeks, casting a slight shadow there. Undeniably, even tired to the bones, Jaemin is handsome.

Renjun mentally slaps himself, takes himself away from those intrusive thoughts and calls out to his friend with a gentle voice. “Jaemin,” he says, soft enough to be a whisper as if he’s afraid of surprising him.

Renjun is halfway through reaching over to pat him on the arm when Jaemin’s eyes open wide, taken aback. “Huh? Oh! Renjun—oh god, did I fall asleep here?”

Renjun is torn between feeling pity and amusement from Jaemin’s reaction. “Yeah, I guess you fell asleep?” Renjun muses and looks around, finds it odd that Jaemin is by himself so he asks, “are you waiting for Jeno?”

Jaemin scoots over to the other end of the couch, and Renjun takes it as an invitation to sit next to him and so he does. Usually, after a long day where he has worked extra hours, Renjun would be rushing to get home but—he can make an exception for today.

“Yeah.” Jaemin nods and covers his yawn with the back of his hand, the other one massages the back of his neck as he stretches the tense muscles there. “He had a last minute meeting and it’s running very very late. We usually go home together and I didn’t want him going home alone at night, you know?”

Something about that strikes Renjun’s heartstrings. Maybe it’s the effort that’s exerted for someone you love, maybe it’s the warmth that Jeno and Jaemin’s relationship brings him whenever he hears about them. Or, more likely than not, it’s the crippling realization that he will never find true love like this.

Renjun bites the inside of his cheeks and sighs inwardly. “I guess so. It’s better to be careful these days.”

Jaemin’s eyes dart around him, observing, and Renjun pretends he doesn’t notice it. Jaemin tilts his head to the side in curiosity. “You seem like you had a long day too.”

“I did,” he confirms, rubbing his hands over his knees, “I had to finish a report so I was all alone in the Marketing office. Although, when I went down I did see the Finance department with their lights still on.”

Jaemin nods in understanding, a silence filling them as the sound of his wristwatch continues to tick. Renjun pulls his sleeves up, checking the time and sighing. Just as he opens his mouth to speak, Jaemin’s phone pings with a notification at the same time.

“Well, get home safe you guys—I have to go home. It’s been a really long day.”

“Wait,” Jaemin stops him, eyes shooting up from his phone screen, “Jeno’s about to come down in like—two minutes… do you… can we give you a ride home? It’s late after all.”

Renjun blinks, thinks back to that time he met Jaemin on a rainy day. “I thought you took the bus to get here?”

Jaemin’s confused for a second, then realization hits him as he smiles slowly. His voice is low when he speaks again. A secret is being shared. “Oh! Jeno and I park the car quite a little bit far from here? Then we just walk here separately. That day, Jeno had to go to work earlier so he took a cab and I took the car… that’s why—”

The elevator doors open in the middle of Jaemin telling his story, prompting him to a full stop as they both turn their heads to look. There’s Jeno, engaged in conversation with some of his co-workers, smiling but without it reaching his eyes. Renjun waits with Jaemin by the couches as Jeno bids his goodbye.

If Renjun blinked, he would have missed the slight glance Jeno gives Jaemin, a nod then a cock of his head to the direction of the outside.

It’s then that Renjun figures out this is how they communicate. In no time, Jaemin is gathering his things and standing up from where he’s seated.

“You coming?” Jaemin asks him, head tilted to the side. There’s a hint of anticipating in Jaemin’s voice, and really, since Jaemin is offering so nicely—Renjun doesn’t really have it in him to say no.

Renjun clears his throat, fixes his tie and flattens his sideburns. He slings his bag over his shoulder and nods resolutely. “Yeah, sure—thank you.”

The car is parked in a building a block away from the office, it took a few minutes of walking before they got there and Jeno is nowhere in sight as they walked. Renjun has a lot of questions in his mind, but keeps them to himself until they reach the car.

“Do you guys always have to do this?” He asks out loud while Jaemin unlocks the car.

Jaemin turns to him, leaning back against the door of the car with a small smile. “Unfortunately.”

“Is it hard?” Suddenly, the atmosphere is solemn as Renjun lets the question out into the air. Hiding their relationship in plain sight must be more difficult than it seems, although Renjun understands company policy and that they must adhere to it, he just cannot imagine the challenge of hiding a love like theirs.

Before Jaemin can answer his question, Jeno has arrived and Jaemin greets him with the biggest smile. Jeno sees him too, beaming even more. This time, it’s a smile that reaches his eyes, much different from the one he had earlier.

“Hi, darling.” Jaemin greets, opening an arm up where Jeno comes into to meet him in a tight hug. Jeno leans forward, presses their lips together in a quick kiss and Renjun averts his eyes from the sight, suddenly shy.

“Hi,” Jeno says when they pull away, leaning against Jaemin as he turns to look at Renjun, “and hello to you too, Renjun. What are we talking about?”

Jaemin supplies him with the conversation he missed. “Renjun was just asking me about our relationship. Asked if it’s hard. Is it hard, Jeno-yah?”

Renjun rubs his arm as Jeno thinks about the question. “It’s hard,” Jeno says decisively with a small shrug, “but we make it work, you know? It’s not always sunshine and rainbow when you’re in a relationship. There’ll always be challenges. And… you know what? I want to thank you for keeping our secret with us. It makes us feel at ease, sort of?”

He cannot help the way he feels about Jeno’s words, even if he tries. It spreads a blooming warmth in his chest, makes him feel as though he’s helping them, like he’s a part of something.

Jaemin agrees. “That’s right. I always thought that having someone from the company know about…. _us_ would make it more difficult… but it honestly felt so much easier? We can ease up around you. So, really, thank you.”

Renjun waves his hands around them in denial. “Aw, come on you guys. It’s all on you! It’s your relationship, you both are working so hard for it! I’m just thankful that you guys trusted me enough to protect all this.” He gestures to them. “And you’re the one driving me home, I should be the one thanking you here.”

They laugh about it for a little while, exchanging gratitude back and forth. The gratitude from them is not unwelcome, there’s just an odd fluttery feeling in his stomach at the thought of being part of something like this. It’s a new friendship, something that’s exciting and there’s still so much to learn about them—Renjun has never been the friendliest person in the room, but he enjoys being with Jeno and Jaemin, enjoys being their friend.

He enjoys being their friend.

On the way to dropping Renjun off at his apartment, Jaemin suggests having a midnight snack at a convenience store they passed by. Jeno says he’ll agree only if Renjun agrees. Expectedly, he does.

That’s how they find themselves gathered together over convenience store ramen and kimbap. Renjun enjoys having midnight snacks by himself, often it’s his homemade dimsum or fruits he’ll grab from the market on the way home. It’s nice having it by himself, but now that he’s having midnight snacks with Jeno and Jaemin, he wonders if he’s been missing out on something due to his lack of companionship.

He’s telling them the story of how he used to stay up late during university exam seasons and would make convenience store runs in a desperate attempt to keep himself awake. He narrates multiple stories about himself too, about his grandmother’s favorite Korean drama, about how he used to climb trees with his cousins and the time he fell down from it.

It’s a long stringing story, with meandering courses but Jeno and Jaemin are both listening enthusiastically. The convenience store is mostly empty, with the three of them on one table, the bored cashier waiting out the night shift and a couple of people walking around the snacks aisle. In a way, it feels like they’re in their own world, just the three of them talking amongst themselves.

He doesn’t know for how long they’re talking, they end up talking about everything, even about the upcoming teambuilding activity in Busan, and they make a promise among themselves that they would all come to make the experience more bearable.

When their laughter dies down after Renjun tells them the story of his summer vacation in Jeju, Jeno says something that has Renjun’s brain going on overdrive.

“God, this reminds me so much of our convenience store dates in university, Jaem.”

Jaemin’s face lights up, remembering said dates. It’s accompanied by a staggering laughter, where he looks at Jeno then at Renjun almost in disbelief. “You’re right. This absolutely reminds me of our convenience store dates.”

Renjun swallows, rubbing his hands together under the table and pressing them between his thighs. “Convenience store dates?”

Jeno nods. “Yeah. Jaemin and I had our dates in convenience stores a lot during university. The person working the night shift recognizes us by name because of how much we went there just to hang out.”

“Oh shit—do you remember the time we had to argue that we were of age when buying alcohol…”

Jaemin trails on to tell a story of them having to argue that their IDs weren’t fake because of the cashier not believing them then but Renjun’s mind is already elsewhere.

Why would Jeno and Jaemin say this reminds them of their convenience store dates? Is this a date? Is Renjun currently on a date with two of his co-workers who are working? Is he even ready to date someone?

What is he thinking?

Of course it’s not like that. Jeno and Jaemin are together, they’re the ones dating. Renjun’s just a friend, someone that knows what they’re up to, someone that shares the secret.

Plus, it’s not like he likes them like that, right? Usually, Renjun doesn’t feel anything for work acquaintances but he _likes_ Jeno and Jaemin. Maybe it’s in the way that he likes Donghyuck too, but he isn’t sure if he will like late night convenience store snacks with Donghyuck as much as he likes them with Jeno and Jaemin.

He must be going crazy.

They finish their food soon, and Renjun tries as much as he can to be responsive in the conversation that follows them to the car. But his mind keeps wandering to that question, like a dull itch on his skin that he can’t scratch.

Does he like Jeno and Jaemin?

What an absurd thought.

He gets pulled away from his thoughts when he sees his apartment building over at the corner, so he leans forward and points it at Jaemin who’s driving the car. Jaemin parks safely and Renjun expresses his sincerest gratitude for driving him home.

“Bye guys,” he says, waving his hand as he waits for them to drive off, “see you on Monday.”

“Wait,” Jeno interjects, leaning forward over Jaemin, “what do you say about doing this again next time?”

Renjun raises a brow, scratches his cheek and nods. “Sure, of course. Next time. You go ahead, guys.”

Jaemin shakes his head. “No, you go inside. We’ll drive away when we see you get inside.”

See, Renjun hasn’t been in a date in a long time and he knows that this is what friends that care about each other do—waiting until the other has gone into the apartment. But still, that doesn’t stop the question racking his brain at this exact moment.

“Uhm,” Renjun nods, walking backwards into his apartment with a small smile as he waves, “thank you, I’m going in now. Take care. Drive safe!”

True to their words, Renjun only hears their car speeding away once he has entered the building safely.

Renjun doesn’t know if the beating of his heart is from the climb upstairs to his third floor apartment, or if it’s something else.

He has a hunch that it’s something else.

“What do you mean you’re not going to the team building activity?” He asks Donghyuck when he learns of his decision that Monday morning.

Donghyuck looks up from his desk and yawns. “I got a family thing,” he waves his pen around, “very important, can’t miss it.”

“But it’s a once in a year thing, we’re supposed to come together!”

Donghyuck scrunches his nose. “You’re coming?” He asks, almost in shock. “Since when did you look forward to the team building activity? I thought you hated it?”

Caught off guard by the question, Renjun finds himself blubbering. “Uh… um… no reason! Why not, it’s required activity. Plus, it’s like vacation.”

Donghyuck’s eyes rake over him, as if he’s analyzing him thoroughly and Renjun can’t help but shiver under the gaze and not in the good way. “Nah, I’d really rather not. You can see everyone who’s dating secretly during team building activity.”

Renjun tenses up at that. Does Donghyuck know _something?_ Donghyuck never seemed like he’s the type of person to care about these things. Donghyuck, unlike him, always minds his own business. So, he prods. “How’d you know that?”

Donghyuck shrugs, snatches the bag of dried mango chips from Renjun’s desk and begins to munch on it. Renjun doesn’t stop him. “I’m observant but I keep to myself. It’s going to be an entire day of couples flirting with their eyes. It’s going to be insufferable, Injunnie. You sure you’re gonna come there?”

Renjun sits back on his chair, leaning back fully against the backrest and reaching a hand out to the bag of mango chips. “Yeah. I told Jeno and Jaemin I’ll come. So, yeah…”

Donghyuck nods, chewing on the mango chips absentmindedly and it seems like the conversation has ended there, until Renjun comes up with another question. “Do you think dating your co-workers is bad?”

“Hm?” Donghyuck stops eating his mango chips and hands back the bag to him. “Not necessarily bad, I see why people do it—but for me, I just don’t see myself doing it. You know? If you break up, it can get quite complicated.”

Renjun sucks on a mango chip, nodding as he listens to Donghyuck’s words.

“I mean, it’s a taboo—but people will always break taboos.” Then, Donghyuck pauses, leans in like a predator to prey and Renjun raises a brow at him in confusion.

“Are you dating someone in the office?”

The question automatically grabs out the moment from the convenience store the other night, when Jeno had mentioned that it reminded him of their convenience store dates.

Since then, Renjun has had a couple of conversations with Jeno and Jaemin when they see each other at the office. They’ve also shared some funny text messages with each other and the good morning and goodnight text messages have somewhat become a thing now. Renjun always starts and ends his day in contact with either Jeno or Jaemin.

_Is he… dating someone in the office? Some…twos?_

Renjun clears his throat, swallows his dried mango and pulls himself back closer to his desk, successfully ending the conversation. “I am not. Thank you. Let’s get back to work.”

The team building activity is at a beach resort in Busan. It’s an all expense paid trip, complete with hotel accommodations and free meals. They have an itinerary and a schedule of activities which they’ll have to follow for the next couple of days. Renjun hasn’t been to the beach in a long time, so he’s thoroughly enjoying the time he has here.

He rooms with someone from the Marketing department, a guy named Jaehyun that he isn’t particularly close with. Sure, he works at the same office as Jaehyun but he doesn’t really talk much to other people that aren’t Donghyuck. He estimates that he’s only shared a conversation with Jaehyun for about five times during his entire career at the company.

After settling down and unpacking, Jaehyun tells him he’s going to go down to the bar before the activities start. Renjun nods and decides that he’s going to check out what Jaemin and Jeno are up to now.

He sends them a quick text message asking where they are and sure enough, not even ten seconds later, a message from Jaemin tells him to come down to the lobby.

Renjun puts on a quick outfit, his beach shorts, a tank top and a baby blue button-up polo to top it off. He grabs his sunglasses, wallet and keycard on his exit.

He greets a couple of familiar faces with a polite bow of his head. It takes a couple of few small talks before he meets with Jeno and Jaemin in the middle of the lobby. They had been on the same flight, but since they’re from different departments, the buses that took them to the hotel had been separate so since the flight, it’s the first time they’re meeting each other.

“Hi,” he greets with a smile, meeting them halfway. They’re both dressed similarly, with summery outfits except Jaemin has a camera hanging around his neck and Jeno has a sun hat over his head. They both look about ready to stroll the beach.

Over the course of the few months that transpired before this team building activity, Renjun has found himself growing closer to Jeno and Jaemin. They’ve shared more stories and made a lot of memories even outside the office. They’ve spent weekends together, nights in convenience stores together—it’s to the point that Renjun doesn’t remember the last time he’s had a meal alone during a weekend.

In a way, he shares this mutual understanding of companionship with them. It’s an unexpected friendship, an unexpected relationship but Renjun wouldn’t have it any other way.

He’s heard of people meeting the people they will marry at work, but he’s also heard of people gaining lifelong friends at work. He believes that Jeno and Jaemin are exactly that for him.

Just friends.

“You look good, Injunnie.” Jaemin greets him, lifting his camera to his eyes and then snapping a quick picture that Renjun is sure he won’t look good in. But he’s long learned that there’s no way he can make Jaemin delete his candid shots.

“You too, both of you.” He says, then lunges forward to lock his arms with them so that he’s sandwiched in between. “So, where are we going? We have to be back before twelve for the lunch orientation.”

“Can’t we just have this vacation on our own and not participate with the activities?” Jeno groans, leaning his weight against Renjun as they start walking outside the hotel.

Renjun looks up at him, gasping at his words. “Since when were you this deviant?”

Jaemin laughs. “He’s always been deviant.”

“I’m not!” Jeno insists. “I’d just rather spend time together with you than with our co-workers. Small talk is tiring.”

“Bet,” Renjun agrees just as they exit the hotel. Right outside is the beach front, the sun is high in the sky, warm on their skin and blindingly bright. The smell of the sea hits his senses, bringing back fond memories of his summer vacations back here. He doesn’t even remember the last time he’s had an actual vacation. It’s just something he really can’t afford.

“Wow, this place is beautiful.” Renjun lets go of Jeno and Jaemin, toes wiggling as they meet with the smooth sand. Almost immediately, Renjun runs into the water, going in until he’s knee deep, his shorts barely missing getting wet from how excited he is.

When he turns around, there are Jeno and Jaemin sating back a couple of feet away from the water. Jeno is watching him with his hands in his pockets and Jaemin alternates between taking photos of him and photos of Jeno with quick shutter sounds.

“Hey!” He calls out, hands cupped around his lips. “Are you scared of the water?”

Jeno shakes his head, and Jaemin only steps forward a little bit more to continue taking photos. “Nope,” Jeno says, “you just look cute when you’re enjoying yourself. It’s a nice view.”

Jaemin pulls away from his camera to agree. “I second that, you should see these pictures later. You look stunning, Injunnie. Can you pose for me a little?”

He may get used to Jeno and Jaemin cementing their presence into his life, but… _this_ he thinks, he’ll never get used to. They’re never subtle about the praises, the compliments and the never ending affection from both ends. If someone did the same things to the Renjun of a couple of months ago, he’ll think that he’s definitely being flirted with—he might even go as far as asking them out himself but with Jeno and Jaemin, things aren’t as simple as he tries to make it out to be.

Instead, Renjun pushes those thoughts back down and poses for Jaemin.

The afternoon is filled with a lot of physical activities. He spends it getting his butt kicked or his team unfortunately losing the group games. There’s a game where the Marketing team went head to head against the Finance team and although Renjun wants to root for Jeno, he does need to stay loyal to his team after all.

It’s been a tiring afternoon, so when they’re finally allowed to head back to their rooms to wash up before dinner and the campfire, Renjun slumps into his bed, dead tired.

His roommate, Jaehyun, comes into the room after him and says he’s going to use the shower. Renjun lets out a grunt as a response, wrapping himself around his blankets as he allows the cold air from the air conditioning lull him to sleep.

He’s going to nap for now.

When he comes back to consciousness, his phone is buzzing with insistent notifications on his bedside table. He doesn’t know for how long he naps for, but the opened curtains right next to his bed tells him that the sun has set. _God, did he miss the dinner call?_

He pushes himself up to a sitting position and stretches his aching muscles. The activities for the day have taken his toll on his body, he’s never really used to exercise and he’s long accepted the fact that he’s immensely terrible at sports. It’s expected that his body is going to hurt—he just didn’t think it would hurt like hell.

He’s halfway through the decision of going back to bed when his phone’s ringing takes him away from it. Renjun rubs his eyes, reaches over to the nightstand to grab it and is surprised at the plethora of notifications from both Jeno and Jaemin.

He’s filled with the unpleasant feeling of dread and worry as he rushes to answer the phone call from Jeno.

“Hi?” He croaks out, voice rough from the sleep. “Jeno? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

He hears a big sigh of relief from the other line, and Renjun is even more confused now. He’s disoriented from having just woken up and the amount of notifications in his phone aren’t helping him get back to reality fully.

“Renjun! Oh god, where were you? We thought something had happened to you. You weren’t answering calls!” Jeno sounds worried sick when he speaks, and it brings the feeling of guilt to the pit of Renjun’s stomach. Have they been looking for him while he enjoyed a nap?

Renjun scratches the back of his head, practically pulling himself up to his feet to get downstairs. “Sorry I—I was taking a nap. I guess today’s activities drained me? I think my roommate just didn’t wake me up. So sorry. I’ll get downstairs. Is dinner still happening?”

There’s a pause, but when Jeno speaks next, he almost hears the smile in voice. “Dinner’s over, Injunnie. The campfire’s happening in a few minutes. Why don’t you wash up and get downstairs? Jaemin and I have something for you.”

“I… okay. I’ll text you when I get there.”

“See you.”

The phone call ends with Renjun now more confused than ever. But he moves to wash up anyway. As he does, he checks his phone and the group chat of the Marketing department. They don’t seem to be looking for him and he assumes that Jaehyun told the rest of the team that he’s still napping. So, that’s a sticky situation that he doesn’t have to deal with thankfully.

He’s not surprised that Jeno and Jaemin don’t know where he is, he didn’t tell them who he’s rooming with and the activities of today whisked him away before he can tell them which floor he’s staying. He feels bad now.

He fixes his hair, dresses comfortably and goes downstairs where the fire pit is. The temperature has gone a bit cold, so he hugs himself around his sweater as he makes his way down.

He sends Jeno and Jaemin a text message in their group chat, saying that he’s downstairs now. He only realizes how hungry he is when he smells barbeque burning, mouth salivating as he wanders to the fire pit.

“Renjun!” Someone calls out to him, and he feels a familiar weight draping itself all over his back.

When he turns to look, there’s Jaemin’s face right next to his. He can’t help the way his breath hitches, now the way he tries to keep the squeal in. Soon after, there’s a soft hand wrapping itself around Renjun’s wrist and Renjun takes his time to look at Jeno with a small smile.

“We were so worried, Injunnie. We thought you were lost or something.” Jeno explains, thumb smoothing over the skin on Renjun’s wrist.

“Yeah! We tried asking people from the Marketing department but none of them know where you are! We tried asking the organizer and the front desk for your room number but we didn’t get any answers either.” Jaemin whines, pressing himself harder against Renjun’s back, his face pressed flat against Renjun’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, you guys—I really had the biggest nap. I’m sorry for making you so worried, oh god, I feel so guilty now.” Renjun apologizes, genuinely feeling like shit for having Jeno and Jaemin worried.

He’s really not used to people worried for him being gone for some period of time. He doesn’t live with family and he only checks in them from time to time with a phone call. Donghyuck would be worried if he doesn’t go to work without any warning—but he isn’t used to people looking forward to his presence, worried about him when he isn’t responding for some time.

It makes him feel special.

“It’s okay!” Jeno says immediately. “You’re here now, and safe. That’s the most important thing.”

“Yup! You must be hungry. Come, come! Jeno, let’s show him what we prepared.” Jaemin hops off of his back and holds Renjun’s free hand, fingers intertwining together as he pulls him off to the direction opposite to the fire pit.

He looks back at Jeno, who’s only smiling at him with those crescent eyes of his. His hand travels down from Renjun’s wrist, down to his hand where he holds Renjun’s tenderly. “It’ll be fun, I promise.” Jeno assures him and Renjun, like many other times before, lets himself get swept off his feet.

They end up at a spot meters away from the fire pit. They’re far enough to be secluded from the crowd of their co-workers but still near enough to get a sight of the fire pit. Renjun wonders about the activity around the fire pit but there’s nothing more interesting than here.

Here, there’s a picnic blanket spread out over the sand. There’s a basket of food in the middle holding the blanket down. The food doesn’t look like it’s from the hotel, but it looks appetizing nonetheless.

As if to say he’s starving, his stomach growls loudly. “Oh god,” he says, “sorry.”

Jaemin laughs and pulls him down to sit. “It’s fine! Come on, Renjun. We prepared all this for you.”

“Jaemin snuck all this in his bag. Can you believe him?” Jeno says as they settle around the blanket. He finds himself sitting in between Jeno and Jaemin, with them passing him different kinds of sandwiches and fruits, there’s even a big container of lemon juice. His mouth is watering at the sight.

Renjun can’t help the smile in his face, looking between them interchangeably. He knows that this is technically a work thing, and that he should be focused at forming relationships with other co-workers but with Jeno and Jaemin fawning over him like this, he can’t even find it in himself to feel guilty.

It’s way past work hours anyway.

They fall easily into a conversation about today’s activities, and Renjun is stuffing himself with the food around them. It’s a little picnic filled with Renjun’s favorite food, at least those that he has mentioned to them in the past and as they converse about the tug-of-war game, Renjun’s mind trails off to somewhere else again.

Staring at the food around him, Renjun realizes something.

They prepared this _solely_ for him. The food around them are Renjun’s favorite fruits, mango cubes, grapes, the squid fried rice that stands out among the picnic food—he takes a spoonful of the squid fried rice and blurts out this realization.

“Did you guys prepare this for me?”

Jeno stops his story about the dinner activity, and Jaemin blinks as he nods. “Yeah.” Jaemin confirms. “Didn’t we say that earlier?”

Renjun recalls their conversation. “Yeah… you did… but like… _why?”_

Renjun pushes down his food with the lemonade. “I mean… I thought you guys just want me to join you in your date because you’re both so nice to me, you know, like usual… but, this, they’re all my favorite food? Why?”

Silence surrounds them for a few seconds, with only the sound of the sea crashing against the shore that can be heard. Renjun feels a pressure in his ears, almost ringing in them. His eyes are shifting from Jeno to Jaemin, and there’s this feeling of something going to happen within the next few minutes.

He doesn’t know if it’s a good feeling or not.

“Damn, I guess we got caught, Jaemin.”

Jaemin throws his head back, erupting into laughter as he shakes his head. Jeno slaps him playfully on the arm as he buries his face against Jaemin’s shoulder this time. “You said it’d be smooth!” Jeno pokes Jaemin on the side.

Most days, Renjun doesn’t feel like a thirdwheel when he’s with the couple. But sometimes, there are moments like this where it’s just _them_ that understands the world around them. He bites on his lower lip, tilting his head to the side curiously. “Am I missing something here?”

Jeno brings his hand over Jaemin’s face, pressing his hand against his mouth to stop him from laughing which is ineffective, as Jaemin’s giggles can still be heard between them.

Renjun can’t help smiling too, even if he’s confused as hell, the laughter brings him to happiness too.

“So… what am I missing here? C’mon!”

Renjun’s just waiting for them to pull the ‘can’t we do something special for a friend?’ card on him, waiting for them to tell him that they thought it’d be a nice gesture for someone that has been good to them for some months. He doesn’t really know what _else_ he’s expecting either. But he knows he won’t like it if they do end up pulling this card on him.

“How do we even go about this?” It’s Jeno that starts the discussion, rubbing his nape sheepishly as he reaches out for his glass of lemonade.

“Just tell him how it is!” Jaemin insists.

“No, Jaemin. We said we weren’t going to scare him, right?”

“I’m not scared.” Renjun places his foot down, expression hard. “Say it, just say it.”

“We like you.”

“Would you like to go out with us?”

Jeno and Jaemin speak at the same time, their words blurring together that it takes Renjun a full minute to understand what he’s being told.

“What?”

The thing is, even if he knows that words mean things and that he understands Korean fluently, he needs to hear that again to fully understand what they mean.

Them? Dating him? Together? Both of them at the same time?

Renjun has heard of those kinds of love stories, but only in movies. He knows it’s possible, he just never thought it’s something that can possibly happen to him in this lifetime. Definitely not with Jeno and Jaemin.

Three people falling in love with each other, people already in a relationship forming another with someone else. He knows about polyamorous relationships—he just doesn't think that it's something that can happen to him. How can more than one person like him in that way? How can someone understand him deeply enough to understand that he can like another person and be okay with it? It's a complex dynamic that he doesn't fully grasp just yet.

But now.

Jeno clears his throat. "What we mean is that... I know our relationship is complicated enough because we have to hide it within the company. But we talked about this a lot, more than you can even think of. I know it's too strong, and we don't want you to be scared of us and we know there's the risk that you might think it's weird. You might think _we're_ weird, but we're taking the chance, Renjun."

Jaemin adds his own point of view. "It's okay if you think we're weird, by the way. We just need to let you know sooner rather than later. If you want, we can give you a rundown of our realization and the stupid fight we had because of it.

"Jaemin..."

"You guys fought because of me?" Renjun is shocked now, eyebrows furrowed as he looks at them with a frown. Relationships like the one they're trying to start can be intricate and convoluted. And with someone like Renjun whose last relationship had been in freshman year of university, he's worried about these things. Fights that won't get resolved, misunderstandings that can happen. He's so painfully inexperienced that he's scared of ruining whatever Jeno and Jaemin have.

But he likes them.

That's his problem, really.

Jaemin sighs. "We did, for a little bit because we weren't seeing each other eye to eye. It's not really a fight, just a misunderstanding but we both talked it out. And this is our conclusion Renjun, we want to date you. Both of us. And we understand if you don't want to date the both of us, if you only want to date Jeno or if you only want to date me. That's fine, no hard feelings."

Renjun reaches out for his lemonade and takes a huge gulp, needs a moment to breathe. He rests his hands on his laps, balls them into fists then releases. He lifts his eyes to look at them again, calmer this time. "And that's okay with you? If I only liked Jeno?"

Jeno looks panicked, and Jaemin tenses up at the question. He smiles anyway. Renjun doesn't miss the look of hurt in his eyes. "Yeah, that'll be fine with me, I'd be happy if Jeno gets with his crush, it's unfortunate that I didn't get with mine but I'd be very happy for my boyfriend if his crush ends up dating him too."

Jeno's eyes are narrow, eyebrows meeting in the middle of his forehead. He reaches out for Renjun, hand over his knee and Renjun keens at the touch. "Do you really mean that, Injunnie?"

Renjun looks at Jaemin, then to Jeno. He doesn't mean that, he likes the both of them more than he can ever express logically but the fact that they _will_ understand even if that's the case tells him enough about them, tells him everything he needs to know.

Renjun shakes his head briefly then takes Jeno's hand in his. He also reaches out with his other hand and holds Jaemin's in it. He puts their hands on top of each other, and Renjun holds them like this.

He looks up from their enjoined hands, then speaks. "I like the both of you too, and yes, I'd like to go out with the both you."

Renjun always thought that he's seen happiness before. He's seen it in his older cousin holding her baby for the first time, he's seen it in his parents' faces when he marched for his graduation, he's seen it in Donghyuck's face when he hears news about his raise. But he doesn't think he's seen happiness like this, in Jeno's and Jaemin's faces as this time, it's Jeno that tackles him down into a hug and Jaemin moves away their food containers to pile on top of them too.

Starfished like that, Jeno speaks. "You scared me for a moment, Injunnie. Almost thought we read everything wrong."

Jaemin laughs from behind Jeno too, tucks Renjun's hair behind his ear and moves forward to press a kiss to his forehead. They're both heavy on top of him, but he thinks it's a weight that he can get used to.

"Me too," Jaemin sighs, "I thought I was getting rejected for real."

Renjun can't help but laugh too, taking Jaemin's hand and pressing a kiss to his palm as he strokes the hair on Jeno's nape with his other hand. "Never, I can never."

"Good." Jeno says, pecks his cheek and pulls away to look at them from where he's sandwiched between them. "We're going to date you _so hard,_ Injunnie. You won't even know what hit you."

Renjun cackles, wriggling from underneath the pile of boys. "Can't wait."

He realizes right there and then that Donghyuck is right when he said that the team building activity is filled with employees dating in secret. But really, at this point, Renjun can’t bring himself to care.

They agree to keep their relationship just to themselves for a while. They don't tell anyone about it unless they're asked. It's a fairly new relationship, and Renjun tells them that he wants to keep it under wraps for a little bit, wants this to be theirs and solely theirs even for just a while before everyone learns about it.

Jeno and Jaemin agree to this. Hiding a polyamorous relationship actually seems easier than hiding a relationship between two people. Whenever they're seen together in the staircases to meet in secret for quick kisses in between their shifts, no one bats an eye and think they're just co-workers discussing something quick over coffee.

It's funny how people don't see the things in front of them even if it's presented to them.

That's where they are now, in the same staircase on the way up to the fifth floor. Renjun has Jeno pressed up against the wall and Jaemin is caging the both of them in with his arms. Jeno deserves kisses right now, because Jeno has finally received the promotion that he's been working towards for months now.

"So, so proud of you, baby." Renjun praises, attacking Jeno's face with kisses that span his forehead down to his lips.

Jeno is giggling under them, eyes disappearing into his cheeks as he holds Renjun's hips to get himself together. Jaemin cups Jeno's cheek and strokes it with his thumb, smirking. "We should celebrate later."

"And what do you suggest?" Renjun turns to Jaemin this time, pushing himself up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to the underside of Jaemin's jaw. He knows they have to disperse in a few minutes and fix their suits, but for now, he allows them to be like this, hidden in plain sight.

Jaemin leans forward, looking down at Renjun, then at Jeno with his wicked smile. Renjun already knows what he's thinking of, and with the way Jeno's knees buckle underneath him, he thinks that Jeno has figured out what Jaemin means too.

"You know, steak and wine. And in the way only the three of us can celebrate."

"You're insufferable, Jaemin."

"I'd love that."

If someone told the Renjun from months ago that he'll be sneaking with his co-workers for secret kisses in stairwells, he'll never believe them. But now, here he is, looking forward to going home with the co-workers that he only used to have water cooler conversations with.

He makes a mental note to thank the water cooler and the photocopying machine sometime later.

**Author's Note:**

> i swear this was supposed to be a drabble.........


End file.
